Facing the Park

Anne, Anne,
flee on your donkey
flee this sad hotel
ride out on some hairy beast,
gallop backward....
Anne Sexton


Tonight I went back to Red Mountain Park for the first time since the puppies were relocated to loving homes.
I was sad. They always added such an energy and enthusiasm to my walks. I cried a little. But it was a beautiful night, and I could not be sad for long. The lights twinkled on the water. The birds had a huge party going on in the reeds.
There are a few things I'm afraid of, and one of them is the self-help section of the library. There are so many voices prescribing so many things. I feel like Brenden Fraser in Inkheart when all the books are shouting at him.
Now I'm going to contradict myself and say that if I were to write a self-help book, I would include the need that humans have for intimate contact with nature. I walked around the park three times; it is a large park. But it had been so long, and I just soaked up the mountains and the sky and the trees and the ducks.
The next time you need to "slough off the excess, find your center" you might give this a try.... but it must be fairly secluded.
Okay I'll stop giving advice! Like the self-help gurus I detest!

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature.
Anne Frank

Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.
Frank Lloyd Wright